[Dixielandjazz] Brian Setzer and Trad jazz

[David W. Littlefield]

Tim, I'm glad you mentioned this CD. I'm a BSO fan--love that combination
of big band and rockabilly guitar. I just got around to hearing the first
Christmas CD-- my grocery store played "Boogie woogie Santa Claus" several
times; I didn't recognize the tune, but the style was unmistakable; I
recalled getting the CD, went home and listened. 

BSO used to have brass only, but that Christmas album has a sax section. Of
course, I like "Boogie woogie Santa Claus's" rock'n'roll saxes, but the
band and charts are delightful--basically traditional style, no cutesie
diddly-doos. And Setzer has a good voice. A current TV commercial uses
"Baby it's cold outside", and I think it's Setzer and (Ann Margaret? One of
those gals, anyway)

Now off to get the new one, and his album "Vavoom"...

--Sheik

At 09:29 PM 12/07/05 -0800, Tim wrote:
>Found OKOM/trad jazz in a surprising place - the new Brian Setzer
>Orchestra Christmas CD has a song titled "Hey Santa".  The lyrics, much
>condensed, are "Hey Santa are you going to Atlanta - can I hitch a ride
>with you old man, my girl lives in Dixieland."  In the middle of a
>rocking, hard-driving arrangement, there is a break with trad sound -
>trumpet, trombone, clarinet, sax, and tuba...after one chorus, a
>street-type drumbeat is added.  Then, it'a back to the original
>arrangement.  Very distinctive, and presents OLOM/trad in an unexpected
>place.  The rest of the CD is similar to his first one - hard-driving,
>swinging arrangements with a big band instrumentation.  The band was
>used for the TV broadcast of Christmas at Rockefeller Center and is the
>one at the end of the Schwarzenegger movie "Jingle All the Way."
>
>A fun surprise!